


Trick and Treat

by AlyssAlenko



Series: A little bit of Shenko Paradise [29]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Costumes, F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Love, Pumpkins, Remembrance, Surprises, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Treats, Tricks, halloween party, shenko relationship, shoker friendship, trick or treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 02:09:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8352157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssAlenko/pseuds/AlyssAlenko
Summary: Alyss Shepard planned a Halloween party for the crew of the Normandy, but unfortunately, due to a grudge from three years before, she let Joker choose her costume...instantly regretting her choice...





	

Shepard let out a strangled cry of frustration, happy for the first time that she’d been buying pumpkins every chance she got for the past week; she’d already destroyed the designs on three of them. Carving intricate designs on pumpkins was not her forte. Sighing she used her biotics to hoist the latest failure into the air and shot it to pieces with her pistol…she’d clean up the mess later—this was actually a nice way for her to relieve her stress. She’d been hoping she could do this on her own, but it was time to admit that she needed help…mechanical help.

“EDI, can you come down to the shuttle bay for a little while?” She ran her fingers through her black hair.

“Of course, Shepard.” EDI replied.

“Where are you going?” Joker asked as EDI stood from the co-pilot’s chair, suddenly and without any warning.

“Shepard asked for my assistance in the shuttle bay. She’s been down there…what is it humans call it?” She did a quick extranet search for the term she was looking for, behind her orange targeting visor. “Using pumpkins for skeet shooting.”

Joker cocked his head to one side, and turned on the VI to hobble after her as she left the cockpit. He knew she’d been smuggling pumpkins on board, but he thought they were for the Halloween party she intended to throw…not for target practice. EDI held out a hand to stop him—Shepard hadn’t asked for him, and from what she could tell, she was just frustrated, having been carving for hours, and having nothing to show for it aside from three destroyed pumpkins on the floor of the shuttle bay. She entered the elevator, as Kaidan exited, his attention focused on a Spectre Expense Report he was currently in the process of filling out.

Joker grabbed him by the arm and he looked up, startled.

“Um, Major, you should probably check on your girlfriend; she’s been stockpiling pumpkins for the last few days and now she and EDI are barricaded into the shuttle bay…I’m worried something bad is going to happen when they emerge.” Joker muttered.

Kaidan arched an eyebrow. “Why do you think that? Alyss loves Halloween—I doubt she’s doing anything sinister with those pumpkins.”

“EDI said she was skeet shooting with them…”

“Oh…” Kaidan trailed off.

That was certainly unexpected. He glanced at the datapad in his hand once more, before turning back around and re-entering the elevator taking it all the way down to level 5. Joker had apparently exaggerated when he’d used the word ‘barricaded’. The doors slid open to reveal Alyss and EDI working very closely together on one pumpkin, a picture laying between them; it looked like Alyss was doing the basics and EDI was adding in all the detail with extreme precision. Kaidan smiled and snuck up behind the two of them; the moment he saw the picture they were trying to recreate, he almost lost it.

“Is that Ashley?” he asked, quietly.

Alyss nodded.

“We’re carving pumpkins, with a portrait of everyone who is no longer here, so that at the Halloween party tomorrow, they’ll still be with us in essence. The veil between this world and the next is thinnest on Halloween…maybe they’ll give us a sign that they’re still here with us…” She trailed off; finally voicing her idea made her second guess herself. “Nevermind. That just sounds crazy, right?

Kaidan smiled, and placed a gentle kiss on her temple, as Ashley smiled up at him in orange. “I think that’s a lovely thought.”

“Really?” She asked, her shoulders sagging with relief.

“Really.” He nodded.

Alyss ran into Kenneth as she got into the elevator after helping Gabby in choosing a costume and was finally able to leave and get into her own for the party, and giggled; he was wearing a very crisp black three piece suit and a black cravat, but what had made her laugh was the white wig gelled out in all directions, and giant white mutton chop sideburns lined his jawline. Gabby was a gypsy…and Kenneth was…what was he? He nodded at her, the solemn action lost somewhere in his crazy wig. She’d even helped Gabby choose a skirt that would show off her legs since Kenneth seemed to love them so much.

“Dare I ask?” She leaned leisurely against the wall.

“I’m Sir David Brewster. Famous Scottish physicist.” His Scottish burr was still adorable.

“Ah.”

“Should I change?”

She shook her head vehemently. “If just for the wig alone, I think you should keep it. I’m sure Gabby will love it.”

Kenneth turned away quickly, but not before she caught the pink staining his cheeks. She’d pushed them together, and walked in on them making out in the sub levels of the engineering deck, and he was still awkward about it. She rolled her eyes, and headed up to her cabin, when the doors opened, she glared at the sky blue corset dress with a white mini skirt apron that had a black and white checkered border and little red hearts adorning the borders as well. Each sleeve was complimented with a small black bow. She held it up, wondering how she had let Joker talk her into this stupid costume.

He’d even been keeping Kaidan from coming up so he didn’t see it until the party.

She wrinkled her nose—apparently being a slutty Alice in Wonderland was her payback for making him be Ace Bridges at her murder mystery party three years ago; Joker had thought he was so clever. She sighed…the sooner she put it on and got it over with, the sooner she could get out of it; after getting dressed she pulled her hair into a tight bun at the base of her neck, and slipped into the long blonde wig, pulled into a side ponytail with yet another black bow, that draped over her right shoulder. She had to admit—although rather begrudgingly on her part—the costume was rather cute once she was wearing it, the white lacy socks and black Mary Jane pumps completed the ensemble.

“Joker, you little shit!” She cried as she rounded the corner to the mess.

Everyone turned at the sound of her voice, including Joker, who was wearing the same costume he’d worn as Ace Bridges; he had a white button up tucked into a white pair of slacks, cinched with a black belt, and a pilot’s wing badge pinned above his left pectoral, as well as white shoes, and a white baseball cap to replace the one he usually wore. She thought he’d burned that costume ages ago, because he’d constantly told her he hated it, or maybe that it had gone down with the original Normandy…that was the only reason she’d let him talk her into the Slutty Alice in Wonderland one. Joker was grinning like a kid at Christmas while she glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff as Kaidan emerged from the med bay, dressed as a cowboy—boy did she have déjà vu—and stopped dead when he saw her. She looked gorgeous.

“I believe they say ‘Trick or Treat’ for a reason. Considered yourself tricked, my friend.”

“You’re a dead man.” She grumbled, crossing the room into Kaidan’s arms as he stood by the Richard Jenkins pumpkin.

James let out a low whistle. “Damn Lola!”

Kaidan kissed the top of her head, as he ate a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. “You may have gotten tricked, but I think I got a treat.”

She punched him in the shoulder.


End file.
